It may thus fairly be inferred that the palace or castle at Lodge Hill, which was pulled down by reason of its age in the fourteenth century, was in the ninth and tenth centuries, or at all events not later than the time of the Norman conquest, the episcopal residence of the Bishops of London.

It is here worthy of remark, that although Mr. Norden with great particularity described the moat as overrun with bushes, and oak trees a century old growing on the foundation; also that Newcourt, in his Repertorium, and a few other writers of later date, have noticed the same circumstance; still the former, although he appears to have had the means, omitted to state the precise spot; and the latter not to have been possessed of sufficient riosity to search for the remains or proofs of such interesting antiquity.

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With so little data, then, to assist, I at one time despaired of throwing any light on this subject, but hoped by one further search amongst records, to which I had obtained access, to get some clue that might enable me to sustain a continuous history down to this period. I believe I have succeeded, and without tiring the reader with a detail of the step-by-step progress towards my object, will at once adduce proofs, to show the precise position

of the Bishop's Castle, as it stood upwards of eight

centuries ago.

In the award plan of the parish of Hornsey the field numbered 631 is called Lodge Hill; it is bounded on the west by a wood, which reaches from thence up to Hampstead Lane, near the entrance lodges of Ken Wood Estate. This wood is of considerable extent, and goes still by the name of the Bishop's Wood. Lodge Hill is the fourth field south-westward of the manor farm-house, on the north road between Highgate and Finchley, and is intersected by the line of division between Hornsey and Finchley parishes; it is peculiarly prominent as the highest spot of ground in the centre of the demesne lands of the Bishop of London, of which Lodge Hill and a very considerable extent of property still form a part; the views from the palace or castle must therefore have been most commanding, and particularly overlooked the approaches from the north.

The trenches spoken of by Norden unquestionably formed a moat around the Bishop's Palace. This sort of protection, I need not tell my readers, was usual to buildings of that class in the eleventh century. The form of the moat is still visible, and is seventy yards square; the site of the castle is still uneven, and bears the traces of former foundations; it is somewhat higher than the ground outside the

trenches. The portion of the moat, which still remains, consists of a spring constantly running, and is now used as a watering-place for cattle; the aged bushes on its banks may yet be seen drooping into the refreshing stream.

"But now the sounds of population fail,

No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale,
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread,
For all the blooming flush of life is fled :
All but yon widow'd, solitary thing
That feebly bends beside the plashy spring;
She, wretched matron, forced, in age, for bread,
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread,
To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn,
To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn;
She only left, of all the harmless train,

The sad historian of the pensive plain."

GOLDSMITH'S Deserted Village.

The plan which I have annexed, delineates the precise position of the moat and the palace; and the contemplation upon these curious incidents of years gone by, will amply repay a visit to this spot.

Lodge Hill is a portion of King's Arms Farm, and the property of Anthony Salvyn, Esq., as lessee under the Bishop of London.

Since the situation of the palace mentioned by Norden has thus been indubitably established, it will naturally occur to my readers, to enquire by what routes Lodge Hill was approached; a reference to the plan will shew one from the road, through the park,